Not really, it’s just becoming way more popular. I’ve seen (been recommended) 25+ videos all on the steam deck this month alone. There’s a shit ton more compatibility with games, custom OSs, etc, which also adds to the numbers. It’s literally the Nintendo switch, but 100x better + it can play switch games too.
It’s 100% fair of you to be suspicious of these crazy increases, but you have to keep in mind it’s literally the only good and affordable option in this type of gaming. Sure, you have Nintendo switch, but it has ass performance on a lot of 1st party games (TOTK 20fps in some areas…). The steam deck is also easily fixable (diy repairs such as a battery replacement) and easy to maintain. The switch, on the other hand, is almost like apple with their “right to repair” stuff, and you cannot upgrade the inner components (like ssd, battery, etc) - only by adding a micro SD card can the storage increase… To each their own.
If you watch such content, the algorhythm immediately puts you in a bubble so that you binge more of the same thing. That being said, the popularity of Linux in gaming context is increasing, but such a big bump is actually kind of suspicious
